THANKS, Doc. My uncle (actually my mom's cousin, Gil Donaldson) was actually the third big star in that Dallas movie. And for months before that film was released, his photo and story was in just about every movie magazine of that time. He was picked to be Hollywood's next big thing, but he shied away because he didn't like all the attention and just wanted to spend time with his family in Van Nuys although as you can see on IMDB he did other roles as well.
I do recall him playing the part of a doctor on a couple of the Lassie TV shows.
Back to the Bungalow mentioned previously......
Recap... As I'm looking at these very expensive and original works of art hanging on the bungalow walls Sean Flynn introduces himself as an actor's son and that actor was Errol Flynn.
So the stunt guys are getting ready to go at it once again and Sean invites me to have a seat and sit in on the robust conversation which I had been doing my best to not listen to thinking that that they were involved in something illegal.
And I soon discovered that I was only partially correct in that assumption because they were in the process of planning to shoot "another movie" using "barrowed equipment" from the studio. They would sneak in and "borrow" everything that they needed to shoot a script on Friday night and return it before the studio found it missing on Monday morning.
They had formed up a year or so earlier and used this same routine to shoot various motor-cycle movies during the weekends when no one was working in he studio.
Jack, knowing that I was a totally honest guy, kind of winked and said, "They know we're 'borrowing' it but they just can't let us know that they know and they simply ignore the fact that we 'borrow' it. And that explanation made me feel somewhat better. But not entirely.
But since I was already guilty by association, I made up my mind then and there to go along with the program and see what it was that they had in mind.
Actually they were running a very successsful movie production company of their very own without the tremendously high overhead that encumbers those Hollywood movie production companies.
The guys and gals who would appear on screen had friends in the business who would do the large variety of work that any movie making effort demands and everyone had to agree to work or play for free until a profit was realized.
These were guys and gals who knew the business and had friends who knew those parts of the business that they knew nothing about. If you wanted to be a part and appear on screen, you'd have to own a motorcycle. If you wanted to appear on screen but didn't own a motorcycle, you could still be in the movie but you could only play the part of the 'dead guy'.
So they all got together on weekends and made a movie. But NOT just one movie! They made quite a few.
And people were watching them as 2nd rate features in drive in theaters throughout the America. And then they hit gold by getting those weekend movies distributed in major Asian cities.
And each of them made a few bucks in the process.
But me?? I didn't get too involved because I didn't know how to ride a motorcycle like them guys did, and I didn't want to be a "dead guy'. But in my defense I was pretty proficient with a tank and an armored vehicle and other much more deadly stuff. And I could blow up a real bride without needing any of those Special FX guys.
I never did see any of those motorcycle movies and Jack passed away while I was overseas before I ever had a chance to talk story once again.
And now when I go looking for those old time weekend movie warriors, I simply meet the younger stunt guys and gals who sort of remember them but don't have the time to reminis (?) and talk story of all those guys and gals who are someplace up thar' talking about the good old days making "How the West Was Won" or "Stuntman" or filling in for Don Adams, the Monsters, or falling through spun glass windows after getting hit in the head by spun glass bottles and so many other 'death defying' feats.
I'm sure each of them has made it through them Pearly Gates.
I've been in some pretty hairy situations and have lost some darn good friends, but I never did actually shed a tear (cry!) too much but when I heard about Sean's disappearance, I couldn't help but recall meeting him in his dad's old bungalow and the tears flowed without my consent. I only knew him for a few great hours but he was one heck of a great person. I only wish that he could be remembered as his father has been remembered and I do know for sure that Errol would have been damn proud of being his dad.
Here's some Sean Flynn info I found on the net and I want to include it here so every GetBigger can know what a great person he was.......
Flynn arrived in South Vietnam in January 1966, as a free-lance photojournalist; first for the French magazine Paris-Match, then for Time-Life and finally for United Press International. His photos were soon published around the world. He soon made a name for himself as one of that group of high-risk photojournalists who would do anything to get the best pictures; even going into combat. In March, of 1966, he was wounded in his knee while in the field. In mid-1966, he left Vietnam long enough to star in his last movie. He returned to Vietnam and made a parachute jump with the 1st. Brigade, 101st Abn. Div. in December, 1966. In 1967, he went to Israel to cover the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. He returned to Vietnam in 1968, after the Tet offensive, with plans to make a documentary about the war. In the spring of 1970, he went to Cambodia, when news of North Vietnamese advances into that country broke.
On April 6, 1970, while travelling by motorcycle in Cambodia, Flynn and Dana Stone (on assignment for Time magazine and CBS News respectively) were captured by communist guerrillas[4] at a roadblock on Highway One. They were never heard from again and their remains have never been found.
Although it is known that they were captured by Vietnamese Communist forces, it has been suggested that they died in the hands of "hostile" forces.[5] Citing various government sources, the consensus is that he (or they) were killed by Khmer Rouge in June 1971.[6][7]
Flynn's mother, Lili Damita, spent an enormous amount of money searching for her son, with no success. In 1984 she had him declared legally dead.
AMEN on Sean. God bless him.
I just recently got semi-involved in helping a friend who has a great script and is planning to produce the movie and in the process I had numerous occasions to visit the offices of Panavision over near Joe Weider's office in the valley and that Panavision experience opened my eyes to the new ways that Hollywood movie studios now operate.
I'm no expert in this field but in the old days the major studios owned all the gear and sets that one needed to make a block buster movie, but now a days it appears that you have to rent or buy everything you need to produce a film. And that is one hell of a huge expense unless you have free access to a sound stage and everything and everyone you need.
And even then you got to work with the city obtaining permits and security and insurance and an endless line of paperwork. And you don't want to upset any of the Guilds or else you're in serious trouble.
LAST THOUGHT.... If any of you GetBiggers come across some dough and plan to spend it on the production of a block buster - make sure your check out Red.com. Friends say it is the cheapest way to get a movie production company started and that camera is used for major motion picture productions.
Check it out if interested.And if you have additional info on this subject, please let me kmow.
Thanks, Stunt.
